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Persian and Arabic Literature

The Aryan tribe from southern Russia reached the region of Persia (now Iran) and because these tribes were far more advanced than the people who lived in that place , they were able to overwhelm them and soon they seized the control of the land.

Origin of Persian Culture

The tribal group that settled in Persis or Pars , a region in central Iran was eventually emerged as one of the most powerful forces in the Middle East . It is from that the name Persian is derived, and it is where the Persian language first evolved.

Continuation……

• The Persian King Cyrus the Great began a series of conquests that led to the establishment of a powerful empire.

• By the time of Cyrus’s death in 529 B.C., the Persian empire stretched from the border of India to Asia Minor and from the edge of Egypt to the coasts of Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

The Persian Empire

continuation………

• Darius which happened to be the son-in-law of King Cyrus extended even farther by conquering Egypt, Afghanistan and northern India.

• Persian empire lasted only for two centuries because of their unsuccessful attempts to conquer Greece, wherein they fell to the forces of Alexander the Great in 331 B.C .

Persian Literature

• During the Islamic conquest no literature was written in Persian language.

• On the ninth century, Persia experienced a literary Renaissance that lasted for several hundred years.

• They concentrated mainly on books that dealt with ethics and morals.

continuation……….• They concentrated mainly on books that dealt with

ethics and morals.–Examples of these are the Gulistan or Rose

Garden and the Bustan or Fruit Garden written by Sa’di , it offers moral advice to the public.

• Persia is known for poetry.• During the 9th and 10th centuries several poets

attempted to write epic poems.

continuation……..

• The most famous is the Shah-nama or the Epic of the Kings written by Firdawsi as the national treasure of Iran.

• Rubai has been immortalized in the Western world through the translation of Rubaiyat.

• Rubaiyat is a collection of verse by the persian scientist poet Omar Khayyam.

1. What is the modern name of Persia?

IRAN

Who are the tribes that seize the control of the land?

Aryan tribes

From what region does the name of Persia derived?

Persis or Pars

Who established the Persian empire?

Cyrus the Great

He extended even farther by conquering , Egypt,Afghanistan and northern India.

King Darius

See you again tomorrow…..

Arabic Literature

• For centuries , poets from all over the Arabia had gathered at first to recite odes called Gasidas praising their own tribe or making fun of others.

• They were committed to memory by generations of people who appreciated them for the depth of their emotion and beauty of their imagery.

• Even after the rise of Islam, they continued to appreciate such poetry.

• Arabic prose began to develop • When the Islamic civilization increasingly

advanced, prose writers expanded into the fields of history, philosophy and science.

• Fiction began to be written.• Some of the fictional works produced during

the 11th century are considered as the finest examples of Arabic prose.

• The Islamic Arab enjoyed listening to fables and folk tales.

• Many stories exist, but the “Thousand and one Nights” is by far the most famous. - it became popular in the Western World that is the most famous work of all Arabic literatures.

ManuscriptPrincess Shaharazad tells a

stories to King Shahriyar

• He was born in a Persian city of Tus.• He had enough money to receive an education

and pursue his own interest because they belonged to a landed gentry.

• He was deeply patriotic and familiar with Persian history.

• After having a great deal of research, he began to write his own history in the form of epic called the Shah-nama.

• It is the national epic of the Persian people.• It has held special place in Persian society. • It is presented as a history of Persia from the

beginning of the world until the conquest of Iran by Arabs.

• Much of the work is drawn from Persian myths and legends.

• It is a description of the creation of the world, then a portrayal of how the earliest kings of Persia fought the demons of darkness and provided the human beings with the basis for civilization.

• The war continues over a thousand years.

• Then king Faridum appears and divides the world among his three sons:

IrajTurSalm

Iraj, the ruler of Pesia is murdered by his brothers. This starts a long and bloody cycle of wars between Persians and the people of Turan, a land generally identified with the territory of Turks.

After the descriptions of many legendary dynasties, the epic ends with a description of King Yazdigird, the last pre-Islamic ruler of Iran, whose armies were defeated by the Arabs in the middle of eighth cenutry.